Victory?
by Shira
Summary: Zelgadis finally finds his cure! But something happens that could ruin everything! A little one-hit idea that I couldn't get rid of ^_^
1. Victory?

AN: This is a just little one-hit idea that has been in my head for AGES!! I had to write it down or go nutz! (Go nutz? I thought I was already there!) 

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^^^ 

**Victory?**

Zelgadis slowly walked away. He reached into his pocket, and starting fingering the bracelet in there. Why had Amelia given it to him? He wasn't going to be gone for too long. He had found something that might cure his body, but he couldn't do it inside Seyruun. It had to be done out in the open under the stars. 

He couldn't believe it, though. They had found his cure. He and Amelia had just been walking around-- they weren't even looking for a change --and the book fell out from the shelf when Amelia tripped and fell into it. He knew at once that it was what he had looked for. 

Still... The expression on Amelia's face before he left stood out sharply in his mind. It was obvious she didn't want him to leave. But he had finally found his cure! He had promised to return as soon as he had performed the spell. 

And now he was leaving Seyruun, and wondering why something inside him told him to stay. He had no reason to stay. And he had his cure now! Of course he wouldn't stay. He would go and cast the spell, then come back. 

_Back to what?_ he thought. Why would he be so intent on coming back to Seyruun? Once he was human again, he could travel around without having to worry about stares and curses. He'd be free to go where he wished whenever he wished. If so, why would he want to turn around and come right back to Seyruun? 

_It just feels right,_ Zelgadis thought. _Being here in Seyruun... with Amelia._

With Amelia? Where did that thought come from? What difference would it make if Amelia were there or not? Why should it matter? 

Zelgadis shook his head to dash the thoughts out of his mind. He didn't want to think about all of that right now. He looked straight ahead, and concentrated on getting to a certain spot where he knew he would be able to perform the spell without any interruptions. Once he got his normal body back, then he would decide where he wanted to go and why. 

He walked for a few hours, and even his thoughts were silent for once. The sun sank lower and lower over the horizon, changing the sky from a deep blue to shades of orange and pink. 

Without thinking, Zelgadis reached into his pocket and took out Amelia's bracelet. She wanted him to keep it. She had also asked him to give it to her when he returned. What was the point of giving it to him if he was just giving it back again? And it wasn't like he was going to wear it at all. Zelgadis shrugged, and thought, _Maybe she was afraid I'd forget her?_

That thought made him chuckle. How could anyone forget Amelia? She left a lasting impression on anyone she came in contact with. This inspired new thoughts. _What sort of impression did she leave on me?_ Zelgadis asked himself. 

Frustrated, he threw the thoughts from his mind again. He didn't feel like thinking about everything right now. He had to concentrate on his goal-- his cure. 

Zelgadis shoved the bracelet back into his pocket. When he did, his hand came in contact with something else. He pulled it out, knowing what it was. 

It was a simple sheet of white paper, folded into quarters. He unfolded it, and looked at it. The paper was a page torn from the book he and Amelia found. It explained the process to return himself to normal. 

Sighing, he stuffed it back in his pocket, and continued in complete silence. It was just nearing midnight when he reached his designated spot. It was a large clearing, but out of the way. No one ever came around here, which was all the better for him. 

Zelgadis stood on the top of a small hill, and looked up. The stars were shining in the dark sky, twinkling and dancing dots of light. For some reason, the stars and the dark sky reminded him of Amelia. The way her eyes sparkled like that. And her dark, midnight-colored hair. 

Shaking his head once again, Zelgadis cleared his mind. He pulled out the sheet of paper, and started reading from the top. It told him to remove any cold iron, and to cast it aside, as it would interfere with the magic. 

Reluctantly, Zelgadis unbuckled his sword, and threw it down at the base of the hill. He turned back to the page. He was to carve a magic circle with a six-pointed star on the crest of the hill. 

He did so quickly, having done it several times before. It was slightly awkward trying to draw it around the rounded top of the hill, but in the end, it was perfect. Once again, he looked at the paper in his hands. 

It now told him to begin the spell. He had to sit down in the center of the magic circle, and chant some strange rune words. He obeyed, and began the strange chant. 

As soon as he said the first rune word, he felt a shudder run through his body. Was it fear? Foreboding? Or just an effect of the spell? He dismissed it, and continued the spell. When he neared the end, a tingling feeling coursed through him. He finally said the very last rune word. 

Pain seared through him like fire. He had never felt pain like it. He screamed as soon as it started. It felt like he was going to be torn in half. He was bent over double, even sitting as he was. 

Abruptly, it all stopped. Zelgadis fell forward, gasping for breath. He managed to open his eyes, and looked down at his hands. 

He couldn't believe it! He slowly brought his hands up to his face. He stared at them incredulously. They were back to normal! No longer blue, but a fleshy pink. Zelgadis forced himself up on his knees, and looked up to glance at the stars. 

What he saw instead were two dark forms towering over him. He started, and his weariness was quickly forgotten when he realized what those two forms were. 

One was large and brown, with rough, rocklike skin and small, beady eyes. It slightly resembled a humanoid, except it seemed as if it were made of a pile of rocks. Zelgadis knew right away that it was a rock golem. 

The other figure was tall and lean, with long pointy ears, and piercing blue eyes. The entire creature's body was blue, as was it's stiff wire-like hair that almost resembled a fin of sorts. This creature almost frightened him. It was a brau demon, a monster of lightning speed and extremely high magical abilities. 

Zelgadis knew at once what had happened. When he felt like he was being split apart, he really was. The two non-human parts of him had separated from the human part. And now it looked like they were going to fight him. 

Slowly, Zelgadis stood up. He held his hands ready to cast a spell, since his sword was still at the bottom of the hill. The rock golem started forward, and Zelgadis shouted, "_Fireball!_" A puff of black smoke flew out from his hands, but that was all. 

"What the--" was all he could get in before the golem's heavy fist clubbed the side of his head. He braced himself against it, counting on his stone skin to block most of the pain. It was after he was knocked down and felt warm blood run down the side of his face that he remembered he didn't have stone skin anymore. 

The brau demon darted out. The tales didn't lie-- the thing moved like lightning. Before Zelgadis even knew it, the brau demon had said, in a garbled, high-pitched voice, "_Fireball!_" The high-speed spell hit just to one side of Zelgadis, but the blast sent him flying. 

Zelgadis landed on the opposite side of the hill from his sword. It truly felt like he had broken a rib or two. Knowing that he didn't have his stone skin to protect him anymore, he probably did. 

The brau demon and the rock golem both charged down the side of the hill, straight for him. Zelgadis shoved himself up on one knee, and tried again. "_Flare Arrow!_" he shouted. Nothing happened. He stared at his hands again, this time in disbelief. With the separation from the brau demon, his magical capacity had diminished to practically nothing. He couldn't even cast a Flare Arrow! 

Zelgadis was so caught up in his thoughts, that he momentarily forgot about his two enemies. He looked up again just in time to receive a pounding blow in the face from the golem. The demon bolted in, throwing another Fireball at him. 

Somehow, Zelgadis found the strength to roll away to avoid the spell. He couldn't take much more of this, he knew. He was going to have to find a way to fight back, or run. 

Taking a last desperate chance, Zelgadis stood up, and shouted, "_Ray Wing!_" To his great relief, his feet rose off the ground. But only a few inches before the spell died, and he was set back on the ground. 

He didn't even see the next Fireball coming. This one hit him straight, and burned his entire back. He fell to the ground, crying out in pain. He rolled over to his back, and stared up at the sky, gasping for breath. 

The golem and demon both came into his vision, towering over him like two visions of death. 

_I guess Amelia will never get her bracelet back,_ Zelgadis thought bitterly. 

The demon and the golem both prepared their final blow. The rock golem raised his fist back behind its ear to throw a heavy punch. The brau demon grinned, showing long fangs, and called a spell into its long-fingered hands. 

Zelgadis kept his eyes open, staring Death right in the face. The golem punched down, all its strength behind its arm. The brau demon said in it's screechy voice, "_Dragon Slave!_" 

It was over very quickly. 

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**To be continued...**

AN: Just to let ya'll know, that ISN'T THE END! Read on to find out! ^_^ 


	2. Truth!

AN: Oh! I bet you're itching to find out what happens to Zel, huh? I bet you're not even gonna read this cause you wanna find out, huh? So that means I'm over here talking to myself, huh? *silence* Yup... I knew it... 

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**Truth!**

Zelgadis woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath. He looked around urgently, searching for the brau demon and rock golem. They were nowhere in sight. Wait-- didn't they kill him? 

Slowly, Zelgadis brought his hand up to the side of his head where it was supposed to be bleeding. When he brought his had back in front of his face, he stared. There was no blood. His hand was also back to stone. 

It was a dream? It had been so real! Then he remembered: he had left Seyruun the other night, and had stopped to rest. He had never even performed the spell. 

The spell! Zelgadis dug around in his pocket to find the spell. He found, instead, Amelia's bracelet. So she _had_ given it to him! 

_It was strange,_ he thought. _In my dream, the last thing I thought was about Amelia._ Why was that? Why would he think about Amelia right before he died? 

Suddenly, it hit Zelgadis like a bolt of lightning. He jumped up, and started running back to Seyruun. He knew now why he thought of Amelia constantly. Why he wanted to stay in Seyruun. Why it felt so right being with her all the time. He had been so ignorant, so blind! It seemed he was aware of everything that went on around him, but not inside him. 

It only took an hour of steady running to reach Seyruun, and still he didn't stop. He looked up at the stars as he ran. He smiled when he saw them, thinking again of Amelia's eyes and dark hair. It was late, he knew, but still he ran straight to the palace. 

The guards let him by without question, since he had come and gone a few times from the palace, and he still didn't even think about slowing or stopping. He nearly flew through the hallways and wide rooms, heading right for one specific room. 

The turned the final corner, and reached for the doorknob. Now he hesitated. Should he just barge in there? Yes! He had to! After that nightmare, he just had to. With that, he turned to doorknob, and opened the door. 

He slowly walked into the room, his heart pounding in his chest. Whether it was from running or not, he didn't know and didn't care. 

Sleeping on a huge canopy bed with the pink curtains drawn open was Amelia. Zelgadis smiled down at her. She looked like a child when she was sleeping, her innocent face smiling even in her sleep. 

His heart hammered even more. He reached over, and shook Amelia's shoulder to wake her up. 

Amelia's eyes fluttered open, and she gasped. "Zelgadis-san?" she asked, sitting up. "What--?" 

Zelgadis interrupted her. He reached over and held her face. He stared into her sparkling blue eyes for a single moment. Then he leaned forward and kissed her urgently. He had expected-- or dreaded --Amelia to pull away, slap him, something. But he didn't expect Amelia to kiss him back. 

When Zelgadis drew back, still holding Amelia's cheeks, they were both gasping for breath. "I love you, Amelia," he whispered. He put all his heart into those four words. Though it was the first time he had ever said those words, they flowed from his lips easily. 

Amelia has tears in her eyes, and she was smiling. "I was waiting for you to tell me that," she said quietly. 

"Sorry it took me so long," Zelgadis said. He leaned forward to kiss her again, but Amelia put her hand up over his mouth. 

She looked at him questioningly, and asked, "What about your cure, Zelgadis-san? Are you going off to look for it again?" 

Zelgadis shook his head, staring into Amelia's sparkling blue eyes. He seemed to get lost in those deep eyes which had seen too much for Amelia's young age. "Never again," he said fervently. 

Amelia smiled again, and threw her arms around Zelgadis's neck. "I love you too, Zelgadis-san!" she cried ecstatically. 

As Zelgadis pulled her in for another kiss, the stars outside twinkled merrily. They danced and flashed in the dark of midnight. Out from behind a stray cloud, the moon appeared. It outshone all the stars, and seemed to aim its light on the window to the room Zelgadis and Amelia were in. 

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**The End!**

AN: Oh! Kawaii! I had to get that out of my system, peoples! Anyways, what were you thinking, anyway? I couldn't just let Zel die, ya know? Of course it had to be a dream! Sheesh! Anyway, R&R my short lil ficcie... I think this is the shortest one I have so far... 


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